Luminaire separable fastener



March 13, 1962 H. H. BUCHANAN. 3,025,094

LUMI-NAIRE SEPARABLE FASTENER Filed Aug. 18, 1959 lnven tov. Hershel HBuchanah b3 His A G tOVTWGH United States Patent Ofliice 3,925,694 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 3,025,094 lLIJh/HN SEPARABLE FASTENER lbiershel H. Buchanan, East Flat Rock, N.C., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 18, 1959, Ser. No. 834,566 3 Claims. (Cl. 292-256) The present invention relates to separable fasteners for luminaires of the type including a stationary housing assembly, a light-transmitting bowl assembly and separable means for fastening the two assemblies together for installation and servicing.

It is common to hinge the bowl assembly to the stationary housing assembly at one side of such luminaires so that the bowl assembly may be swung on the housing assembly between its open and closed positions and to provide latch means at the other side of the luminaire for locking the bowl assembly in its closed position and for releasing the bowl assembly for swinging movement from its closed to its open position to give access to the interior of the luminaire for servicing.

Luminaires of this type are frequently mounted at such heights that a ladder or elevated platform must be used in installing and servicing. For safety purposes a luminaire capable of being opened and closed by one hand, leaving the other hand free for grasping the elevated support is highly desirable.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a separable fastener for the housing assembly and the bowl assembly of luminaires of the above type. A separable fastener made in accordance with the instant invention facilitates one-handed opening and closing of the bowl assembly. Moreover, it positively supports the bowl assembly on the housing assembly in a partially opened position to afford the servicing attendant an opportunity to align interengaging parts of the assemblies by adjusting the position of the bowl assembly before locking them together. This may be done with one hand. Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of a species thereof, from the accompanying drawing and from the appended claims.

The separable fastener embodying the invention includes a base member having fastening means for fixed attachment to the stationary housing assembly, a latch member having hingedly connected therewith attachment means for alfixing the latch member to a bowl assembly and including a latching lever for separable pivotal engagement with the base member.

The latch member with the latching lever in its unlocked position may be suspended by the lever from the body member to support the bowl assembly in a partially open.

position a short distance below the housing assembly. Furthermore, the latch member may be moved bodily into and out of its suspended position on the body member for swinging the bowl assembly between its partially open and fully open positions. By manipulation of the latching lever the latch member may lock on or suspend from the base member.

The hinge joint between the globe assembly attachment means and the latch member, and the separable pivotal engagement of the latch member with the base member, makes possible manipulation of the latching lever, adjustment of the bowl assembly position and bodily movement of the latch member by the same single hand of the operator.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary end view of an elongated luminaire for tubular fluorescent discharge lamps with part of the housing assembly and the bowl assembly broken away and showing in full lines separable fasteners embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, partly sectional, view on an enlarged scale of the broken parts of the luminaire shown in FIG. 1, and a partly sectional view of the separable fastener taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 4 with latch member closed.

FIG. 3 is a similar view of the broken parts of the luminaire showing the separable fastener in a side elevational view with the latch member open and suspended from the base member and, in broken lines, in a bodily removed position from the base member.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the separable fastener shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and in its locked position shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing, the luminaire illustrated comprises a stationary trough-shaped housing assembly 1 and a trugh-shaped bowl assembly 2. These assemblies may I be globular in shape, when desired.

A separable fastener 3 is provided on each side of the luminaire including the assemblies 1 and 2, as shown in FIG. 1. A single cooperating pair of such fasteners is suflicient when the luminaire is globular in configuration. Several pairs of such fasteners may be used when the luminaire is of elongated shape, the fasteners 3 being provided along the parallel sides of the elongated luminaire or at the opposite ends thereof, as desired, to secure the assemblies 1 and 2 together. With either type of luminaire the bowl assembly may be swung open in either direction for servicing of the luminaire from either side by releasing the fastener or fasteners 3 on one side and swinging the bowl assembly 2 on the fastener or fasteners 3 on the other side of the luminaire. The fasteners 3 embodying the invention permit such swinging of the bowl assembly thereon without risk of this assembly falling from the luminaire as will be apparent from the following description.

The housing assembly 1 includes a downwardly opening trough-shaped sheet metal member 42 having a flange 5 which extends outwardly and then downwardly (FIGS.

2 and 3). The flange 5 accommodates and conceals a sealing gasket 6 fastened to the underside of the flange 5 by a suitable adhesive. The gasket may be made of any suitable material such as compressible rubber. The housing assembly of this type is usually provided with means for attaching the luminaire to a stationary support, means for supporting and connecting the lamps housed therein to a power source and a reflector for directing the light from the lamps downwardly through the mouth of the housing and toward the bowl assembly.

The bowl assembly 2 includes an upwardly opening light-transmitting trough-shaped bowl 7 of organic plastic material, for example, which is provided with a horizontal flange or lip 8. The flange 8 has an upward projection 9, V-shaped in cross section, which fits into a notch 10 (FIG. 3) of corresponding shape in the gasket 6 of the housing assembly when the bowl 7 is in its fully closed position, as shown in FIG. 2. This provides a seal against entry of water and dirt into the interior of the bowl.

Further description of the luminaire is unnecessary for a complete understanding of the invention by those skilled in the art as luminaires of this type are well-known commercially and constitute no part of the present invention which relates to the separable fasteners 3| for securing the bowl assembly to the housing assembly of the luminaire.

The separable fasteners 3 are of identical structure and each includes an elongated base member 11 which is afflxed to the housing assembly by rivets or screws 12 extending through openings in the housing member 4 and in the support plate 13 of the base member 11, as shown in FIG. 2. The base member 11 is generally of channel shape with the parallel upstanding sides 14 and 15 thereof connected together by the integral support plate 13 and the integral brace plate 16. The base member extends d9 down below the flange of the sheet metal member 4 and is notched at its lower end as shown at 17 in FIGS. 2 and 3. The upper end of the base member is also notched as shown at 18. The open ends of the notches are thus spaced vertically from one another and extend in opposite directions. The notches 17 and 18 accommodate parts of a latch member 20, as described below.

The latch member 20 of the separable fastener 3 in cludes a latching lever 21 adapted to be brought into engagement with the notch 18 of the base member 11, a spring loop 22 pivotally connected to the latching lever on a pivotal axis offset from the fulcrum of the lever and an eye piece 23 hingedly connected to the loop 22 at the bight of the latter and affixed to the bowl assembly 2 as described below.

Spring loop 22 is constructed of spring wire material and is formed with elongated arms extending from a center bight portion 25. Each arm is bent slightly intermediate its length to form an obtuse angle indicated at 22a. Each arm is provided with a laterally extending or offset portion 22b on the side of the obtuse angle opposite the bight. Immediately adjacent the offset portion 22b, each arm is formed with an arcuate or curved portion 22c extending to the end of the arm. The angular, offset, and curved portions of the arms give the loop a considerable amount of spring resiliency and make it possible to deform the arms slightly along their lengths and place the loop under considerable tension when the separable fastener is closed in a manner to be described later.

The eye piece 23 is affixed to the flange 8 of the plastic bowl 7 by a channel-shaped metal member 24 riveted on one side to the underside of the flange 8 and to the other side of which the eye piece 23 is aifixed by rivets extending through holes in the flat end part of the eye piece. The bight 25 of the loop 22 extends through the eye 26 of the eye piece 23 to form a hinge joint so that the eye piece cannot become separated from the bight. In this way the latch member 20 is secured to and carried by the bowl assembly 2. In the locked position of the latch member 20 the bight 25 of the loop engages the notch 17 in the lower end of the base member 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

The latching lever 21 has a bent end 27 for operation of the lever by finger manipulation and has a pair of perforated ears 28 turned down thereon and rounded at the end opposite the bent end 27. The pivotal connection between the lever 21 and the loop 22 is made by bending the ends of the arms of the loop away from each other and extending them through openings in the ears 28, as indicated at 29 in FIG. 4. With the projecting ends of the arms flattened beyond the ears, as shown in FIG. 4, the arms are retained on lever 21.

The fulcrum of the lever 21 is constituted by the pivot pin 30 extending between the cars 28 through opposed openings in the ears with the ends of the pin peened over to be retained in the lever. The pivot pin 30 is offset from the pivotal connection between the loop 22 and the lever 21, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A part 31 of the lever between the ears 2% and extending from the bent end 27 terminates short of the rounded ends of the ears and in the unlatched position of the lever engages recesses 14a in the upper ends of the sides 14 and of the base member 11, as shown in FIG. 3. This stops counterclockwise rotation of the lever on its axis in the direction of the housing support 1. At the same time, it leaves sufficient space between the end of the lever 27 and the sheet metal member 4 of the housing support for the insertion therebetween of fingers of the operator when the lever is to be moved from its unlocked position shown in FIG. 3 clockwise to its locked position shown in FIG. 2 in closing the globe assembly 2.

When the latch member is in its locked position, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pivotal connection between the lever 21 and the open end of the loop 22 is above and on the side of the pivotal axis or fulcrum of the lever, indicated at 30, away from the housing assembly. In this position the arms of loop 22 are deformed slightly to place the loop under considerable tension. The force exerted by the resilient loop 22 is then in the direction tending to hold the stop part 31 of the lever against the sloping sides 32 of the base member 11 as shown in FIG. 2. In this position the lever is, in effect, of the second class with the fulcrum at one end and the arm between the weight and the fulcrum shorter in length than the arm between the power and the fulcrum. The tension exerted by the loop 22 with the latch member 2% in this position is sufficient to hold the bowl flange 8 firmly against the gasket 6 with the bight 25 of the loop 22 the lower notch 17 of the base member 11.

-As the end 27 of the lever is rotated around the pivot pin 39 toward the housing assembly 1, the pivotal connection between the lever 21 and the loop 22 is shifted so that the force exerted by the loop is on the side of the pivotal axis toward the housing assembly and the lever then acts as a lever of the first class in which the fulcrum is between the weight and the power. Due to the resiliency in the arms of the loop 22 the lever snaps into an open position with the stop part 31 resting on the notched top of the base member 11 (FIG. 3) to stop the rotation of the lever in this direction. With the lever in this position the latch member 20 is suspended from the base 11 and the bowl assembly is supported by the separable fastener 3 in its partially open position.

After the latch has been released in this manner the bowl assembly 2 may be rotated to its fully opened posi-' tion by grasping the lever 21, lifting the latch member 20 bodily to remove the pin 30 from the notch 18, then swinging it outwardly as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3 to clear the base member 11 and at the same time lower ing it in an arc while keeping hold of the lever to restrain the swing of the bowl assembly on the closed latch mem ber 3 on the opposite side of the luminaire. Because eye piece 23 is free to pivot on the bight 25 of loop 2 2, the locked latch member 3 on the opposite side of the lumi naire firmly supports the bowl assembly in its opened position and there is no possibility of the bowl assembly falling from the luminaire while in its fully opened position.

In moving the bowl assembly from its fully opened to its partially closed position, the same bodily movement of the latching member is performed in the reverse order. After the pivot pin 30 has been placed in the notch 18 to suspend the latch member from the base member, as shown in FIG. 3, the hand grasp on the latch member may be released and the same hand used to make any slight adjustments in the bowl assembly on the housing assembly necessary to align the projection 9 with the groove 10 so that the flange 8 of the bowl will seat firmly on the gasket 6 of the housing assembly. After such adjustment has been made where necessary, the lever 21 may be rotated on its axis by the same hand to lock the latch member 20 to the base member 11, as shown in FIG. 2, and the bowl assembly 5 to the housing support 1.

When the latch member 20 is in the unla-tched position shown by FIG. 3, the distance between notches 17 and 18 is less than the distance between pivot pin 30 and the bight 25 of the loop. This makes it possible to remove the latch member 20 entirely from engagement with base member 11, as shown in dotted outline. On the other hand, when the latch member 2% is in the closed or latched position shown by FIG. 2, the distance between the notches 17 and 18 is slightly greater than the distance between pivot pin 30 and bight 25 so that when operating lever 21 is rotated to close the fastener the resilient arms 20 of the loop are slightly deformed or stretched to permit the pivot pin and bight to be seated in the notches. The tension exerted by the resilient spring-like arms of the loop holds the parts tightly in assembled position.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A separable fastener for luminaires including an upper housing assembly and a lower bowl assembly, comprising a base member having means for fixed attachment to a luminaire housing assembly and spaced notches opening generally vertically in opposite directions, and a latch member consisting of a resilient U-shaped loop, a latching lever pivotally connected to the open end of the loop and an eye piece having means for attachment to a luminaire bowl assembly, said eye piece being permanently hingedly connected to the bight of the loop, said lever having a pivot pin offset from the pivotal connection between the loop and the lever, the upper of said notches in the base member being adapted to accommodate the pivot pin on said lever and the lower of said notches being adapted to accommodate the bight of the loop, the distance between the respective notches in the base member being less than the distance between the pivot pin and the bight of the loop in the unlatched position of the lever and greater than the distance between the said parts of the latch member in the latching position of the lever whereby the latch member when unlatched is movable bodily into and out of engagement with the base member and is suspendable therefrom while latching and unlatching the fastener.

2. A separable fastener for luminaires including an upper housing assembly and a lower bowl assembly, comprising a base member having means for fixed attachment to a luminaire housing assembly and spaced notches opening generally vertically in opposite directions, and a latch member consisting of a resilient U-shaped loop, a latching lever pivotally connected to the open end of the loop and an eye piece having means for attachment to a luminaire bowl assembly, said eye piece being permanently hingedly connected to the bight of the loop, said lever having a pivot pin offset from the pivotal connection between the loop and the lever and having also a stop engageable with the base member in the latched and unlatched positions thereof, the upper of said notches in the base member being adapted to accommodate the pivot pin on said lever and the lower of said notches being adapted to accommodate the bight of the loop, the distance between the respective notches in the base member being less than the distance between the pivot pin and the bight of the loop in the unlatched position of the lever and greater than the distance between the said parts of the latch member in the latching position of the lever whereby the latch member when unlatched is movable bodily into and out of engagement with the base member and is suspendable therefrom while latching and unlatching the fastener.

3. A separable fastener useful for holding upper and lower parts of a luminaire in assembled relationship comprising, in combination, a base member attached to the upper part of the luminaire and having spaced notches opening in opposite directions, an eye piece attached to the lower part of the luminaire, a spring loop having spaced elongated resilient arms and a bight portion, said eye piece being permanently pivotally fastened to said bight portion, an operating lever pivotally connected to the ends of said arms, and a pivot pin carried by said operating lever in position spaced from the pivotal connection of said arms, said pivot pin engaging one of said notches upon movement of said operating lever to flex said resilient arms and move said eye piece and bight into engagement with the other of said notches to close said fastener.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,364,241 Brownell Jan. 4, 1921 1,596,710 Binks Aug. 17, 1926 2,472,285 Claud-Mantle June 7, 1949 2,873,471 Swanson Feb. 17, 1959 

